Superhero TrainingFAMILY SERVE DAY

Superhero Training

Dearest KidsMinLeaders,When I was a Kids Pastor in a local

church, I often wondered how to get

parents and their kids in the same room

to actually grow together. Sure, worship

is intergenerational in nature, if the kids

don't leave for kids church, but I found

there was a disconnect between

Sunday School programming and

incorporating those valuable lessons

into the daily lives of families.

I tried notes to parents given out at the

end of Sunday School, but then I'd pick

up countless paper airplanes after

church. I tried social media - and yeah,

that worked to get the word out, but I

couldn't guarantee that parents read

my posts or changed anything in the

home because of them. I tried talking

individually with parents, but with

hectic schedules, I never could

remember who I talked to about what! I

became frustrated at what seemed to

be an impossible feat - getting families

on the same page to grow together.

Then, it hit me. We can preach all day

long about faith development at home

within families, but we have to offer

space and resources for families to that!

That's when we started quarterly Family

Serve Days, where all were invited to

serve together.

It's that simple. Gather families - people

of all ages - into one room, to learn the

same thing and participate in the same

activities. We made sure these activities

were missionally minded in nature, then

we let our imaginations run wild with

fun themes!

In this resource, you'll find everything

you need to host your very own

Superhero Family Serve Day, where you

and your crew will train to defeat the

Hunger Villain! Enjoy!

Rev. Melissa Collier Gepford

Timeline

Two Months Before

Put it on the Calendar

Recruit Volunteers for Planning, Decoration, Station Supervision

Budget

One Month Before

Promote in Church and on Social Media

Contact Food Bank

Start Collecting Food

One Week Before

Reminders to Parents

Decoration as Promotion

(check out my Pinterest board for fun ideas on decor, crafts, and games!)

Last Minute Purchases

One Day Before

Finish Decoration

Set Up Stations

Social Media Push

Deep Breath

Timeline

ScheduleSchedule

Superhero Orientation (5-10 min)

Introduction + Overview

Prayer

Get-to-Know-You Game

Suit Up (15-30 min)

Mask, Cuffs Craft

Optional Cape Craft

Superhero Training (30 min)

X Ray Vision

Faster than the Speed of Light

Leaps and Bounds

Smash!

Defeat the Hunger Villain (30-45 min)

"When I'm Hungry..." Game

Teaching Moment

Service Moment

Prayer

Superhero Orientation

Introduction + Overview

Be prepared for families to arrive early. Have upbeat music playing, and as they

arrive, greet them with energy and excitement. Invite them to explore the

decorations and take pictures at the photo booth areas. If you choose not to set up

photo opportunities, have coloring sheets or another activity prepared for early

guests. When it is time to begin, introduce yourself and explain what they'll be doing

today. Here's a script:

Hello everyone! Welcome to Superhero Family Serve Day! I'm so excited and

glad you're here with us today! We know that God has called us to use our gifts

and blessings to serve other people, so today we are going to train to be

Superheroes as we work to vanquish the Hunger Villain! Are you ready to get

started?!

Prayer

Let's pray. Repeat after me:

Dear Lord // thank you for today. // Help us // to be superheroes // and defeat the

Hunger Villain // in our community! // We love you! // Amen!

Get-to-Know-You Game

We all know every superhero has a superpower, so to get to know each other a

little better, we are going to go around a circle and introduces ourselves. Say

your name and your superpower!

Pro Tip: If you're running short on time, this is a great conversation activity during

Suit Up!

Suit Up

Mask, Cuffs Craft

Now that we know everyone's superpower, it's time to Suit Up! Every

superhero has to conceal their identity, so we are going to make superhero

masks and cuffs! Let's get started!

Lead guests to the craft station, where they can choose a mask and cuffs to

decorate. You can find a mask template on the Pinterest Board, or you can purchase

blank masks from Oriental Trading. For the cuffs, use toilet paper rolls, cut "hot dog

style" to slide on wrists easily. Use whatever craft supplies you have: markers,

crayons, stickers, glitter (if you dare!), scraps of colorful paper, foam paper,

whatever! Punch holes in the sides, and tie some yarn to secure the mask on their

faces. For the cuffs, just slide them on!

Pro Tip: If you use glue, let the masks and cuffs dry during the event and invite them

to take them home and continue to be superheroes!

Optional Cape Craft

If you'd like to go all out, invite folks to bring an old t-shirt or have colorful blank ones

available. You can find directions for how to make capes out of t-shirts on the

Pinterest Board! Happy cutting!

Superhero TrainingSo we know our superpowers, we have our superhero suits, now it's time for

some superhero training! Every superhero has to learn new skills and practice

them to get better, so we will too! Are you ready to go through Superhero

Training?!

Lead guests to the Superhero Training Stations. If you have more than 20 guests,

divide into groups and rotate through the activities. If you have a smaller group,

guide them all together through the stations.

Pro Tip: If you're expecting a lot of people, enlist one of your volunteers to divide the

groups up during Suit Up so that there's no confusion during this transition time.

XRay Vision

Set up 5-7 boxes with an object inside. Examples: toy car, pencil, book, spoon, yarn.

Cut out a hole in the top of the box just small enough for them to put their hand in

and feel the object. To guess what the object is, they whisper it to the Station Leader

- don't let anyone spoil it for those who haven't gone yet!

Pro-Tip: Messy can be fun! Just make sure there are wipes available to clean hands.

Faster than the Speed of Light

Mark off an area for running. Explain to the guests that superheroes can run faster

than the speed of light, and let them run! For more structure, play Red Light Green

Light. Also, sometimes superheroes can slow down time, so have them "run" in slow-

motion. Or sometimes superheroes can go back in time, so have them run

backwards. Get creative! Pretty much anything works here.

Pro-Tip: Sometimes kids can get a little rough and rowdy unintentionally. When this

happens, I usually tell them that to pretend they have glue on their hands, and

they're stuck to their legs. It's pretty silly watching kids run around with hands on

their legs, and it's safe!

Superhero Training

Leaps and Bounds

Set up hula hoops in a "hopscotch" pattern, and explain that superheroes can jump

high, low, long, and wide. Have them experiment with hopping on one leg, skipping

hoops, and jumping from one to the next.

Smash!

Sometimes superheroes are too strong for their own good! Have a number of boxes

decorated as brick walls or buildings (you can find instructions on the Pinterest

Board) set up on a table. Have guests stand a distance back and throw bean bags or

light balls at the boxes to smash them down!

Want more?

Check out the Pinterest Board for more ideas on Superhero Training Games!

Defeat the Hunger Villain

"When I'm Hungry" Game 

Lay a square of paper in the center of your room. Have the guests stand in a wide

circle around it. The goal is to have the guests make it to the paper, the catch is how

they get there. Assign certain actions to different guests. Example: one gets to take 2

leaps, one gets to shuffle for 3 seconds. One has to army crawl. One can take 5 hops

on one leg, etc. Tell the kids “go” and they will find that some of them are unable to

reach the paper in the middle.

Teaching Moment

Does that seem fair that some people were able to get to the paper and others

weren't? What was unfair about that? [give time for them to answer]

Did you know that it is easier for some people to get good food than others?

Kind of like how it was easier for some of you to get to the piece of paper. What

are some advantages you think people have to get good food? [money,

transportation to get to a grocery store, living in an area with a grocery store, etc.]

But what if you don't have those advantages? Did you know that some people

don't have a car to get to the grocery store? Or money to pay for food? And

sometimes, they even live in places where there is no grocery store to get

fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables! What do you think happens to people who

are hungry and can't get the food they need? [allow for time to discuss]

Did you know that God tells us that we should take care of people who are

hungry? We can do that in lots of ways! One way we can do that is to work to

make sure that things are fair - that people can afford food, that they can buy

fresh and healthy food, and that kids have access to healthy meals at school,

even if their parents can't pay for it. Another way to take care of people who

are hungry is to collect food, like we have done, and give it to community food

pantries to help families that need it.

Defeat the Hunger Villain

Service Moment

Ask the guests to count and sort the food items to be delivered to the food pantry.

Celebrate the work they've done, and be sure to share the total count with your

congregation during worship!

Prayer

Look at that! God has asked us to take care of people who are hungry, and I

know that this will help people who need good food. Thank you for serving

others and working together to defeat the Hunger Villain! Let's pray together.

Repeat after me:

Dear Lord, // we know // that sometimes // people are hungry // and that's not

fair. // Help us // to defeat the Hunger Villain // and make sure // that nobody

goes hungry // ever again. // We need your help // so please be our

superpower! // We love you. // Amen!

"When I'm Hungry" Game developed by Micah Corps intern Paige Schroeder.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Rev. Melissa Collier Gepford at

mgepford@greatplainsumc.org.